Hydraulic proppant fracturing and gravel packing / Гидравлический разрыв пласта с помощью проппанта и гравийная набивка

Hydraulic proppant fracturing is a relatively young technique of hydrocarbon pay stimulation which has been invented only abt. 40 years ago (CLARK 1948, KHRISTIANOVICH & ZHELTOV 1955) and which entered the focus of attention by reservoir and technical engineering particularly during the last ten years since the invention of synthetic intermediate- and high-strength ceramic proppants that can withstand the high closure stresses especially in deep tight gas-bearing sandstone pay formations (COOKE 1976, 1977). The possibility of now treating also high-pressure hydrocarbon-bearing intervals where natural sand crushes as a consequence of elevated closure stress triggered considerable expansion of hydraulic proppant fracturing stimulation which culminated in various MHF campaigns predominantly in USA and Europe where up to 1 Mio. gal of fluids and more than 6 Mio. lbs (3,000 t) of proppants have been pumped into large-scale fractures within a singular jumbo treatment and proppant quantities of 200 - 500 t per job are quite common in large-scale hydraulic reservoir stimulation. <...>